As far as my connection to Brian, I was a "ghostee" in 2006, and our group built the studio [ghost 8]. i was also able to convince him to visit us here in colorado as well and he gave an excellent lecture at the AIA convention in Vail in 2007 [?]. ghost lab was a blast and a fantastic learning experience for me, and that's that's why I try to promote it every year on this blog. like bml, i am a strong believer in the "learning by making" methodology, and discovering a theoretical approach to architecture through this process.the post about tom kundig was really just in reverence for that particular house and his elevation of a humble material like CMU to such an artisan level. that is, in some part, why I enjoy "brick blog", because being economical [rather than iconic] is almost considered to be radical these days.it appears that most of the starchitects consider brick to be below their stature [re: s. holl] as it is too "common" for the expression of their usually un-contextual [and ridiculously expensive] proposals. brick is a wonderful material that comes directly from the earth [with minimal processing needed], and most the architects i admire [lou kahn, aalto] have been able to design with brick in unconventional and inspiring ways.i don't exactly recall how i found my way to your blog, but i have very much enjoyed the recent posts, especially the one on aalto's town hall.

I recently visited Brian's land where the ghost projects are located and it blew me away. The studio is a fantastic space.

I agree with what you've said regarding brick, and additionally I appreciate the handcrafted quality that is built-in to structures made by brick masons, I believe this adds value beyond expensive material use.